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'...I changed my mind,' came Pauline's voice again. 'I don't want to do this, after all.'

"What?" Roman's grin only widened, however. "You finished it, didn't you?"

'N-no...'

"Yes, you did! I can tell! I'm psychic, too!"

'You most certainly are not.'

"Just show it to us. We won't be mean. If anything, it'll help endear you to us."

'Is that really true?'

"Of course it is."

'What do you think, Lord Goffe? Is Mr. Fullister telling the truth?'

Oh shit. "Uh. Look, I don't know. Maybe."

'Hmm...'

"Here. Hector will put a little barrier around us so that other people won't be able to see. Won't you, Hector?"

Hector was beginning to see a pattern with Roman. "Sure." He materialized a waist-high iron barricade.

'Fine, I'll show you. But you better not be mean.'

"We won't. We're the nicest guys you'll ever meet."

'Oh, shut up.'

And right before their eyes, a cluster of lines appeared in midair. They were all rather disjointed and rough, as if hastily scratched with a pen on paper.

Roman's first prediction had been spot on, Hector realized. It really did look like a 2D drawing, though Hector couldn't really tell what it was supposed to depict.

Roman was barely containing his laughter with a hand over his mouth. His chest and shoulders were trembling with each breath. "It's great!" he barely said.

'Mrgh...'

Hector couldn't stop himself from asking what was probably a rude question. "What is it supposed to be?"

'A dog!' she said. 'You said you wanted a talking dog, didn't you?!'

"Oh, ah--yeah, I see it now," said Hector.

Roman, however, just exploded with laughter, drawing attention from everyone else in the cafeteria. "That's great! It's so good! Thank you for showing us!"

Despite his words, those didn't actually sound like compliments, Hector felt.

And perhaps so did Pauline, because her avatar promptly vanished into nothingness again.

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"I see, I see," said Roman. "So the problem isn't that you literally cannot create an avatar quickly. It's that you're a perfectionist."

'Excuse me?'

"I'm right, aren't I? You can make an avatar whenever you want, but it'll just look janky as hell. You're like an illustrator or painter obsessing over their craft, too embarrassed to show anyone your work until it's exactly to your liking.'

'...That's not accurate at all. It has nothing to do with a sense of artistry. It's for the purpose of making the avatar actually "pass" as lifelike, undetected.'

"Yeah, yeah, sure, but we already know that it'll be an illusion, so in this case, the lifelike part is superfluous, don't you think?"

'Ah...'

"C'mon, I dare you to make a super primitive avatar for yourself, right now. In like one minute."

'Eh...'

"We won't be bothered if it looks weird. In fact, the weirder the better, I say. Right, Hector?"

Hector had no idea why Roman was trying to bring him back into the conversation. "Er. Sure."

'I don't think so...'

"Just do it! It'll be great!" Roman started pumping his fists as if sitting at a dinner table. "Avatar, avatar, avatar, avatar...!"

'Okay, fine. One minute, you said.'

"Yeah!"

And so they started waiting.

"I'm gettin' excited," said Roman. "I wonder what it's gonna look like. Is it gonna be like a flat, 2D drawing floating in front of us? That'd be pretty neat. Oh, or do you think it'll be some kind of horrific, uncanny-valley-style mutant abomination? I'd be cool with that, too, honestly. Maybe even more so."

Hector just listened quietly, the majority of his attention being paid to the non-servants on the other side of the cafeteria. He was glad Roman was able to enjoy himself, though, even in these strange circumstances.

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'Really? I didn't think it was that much,' said Pauline. 'You must be a very private person.'

"Hah. That's rich, coming from a Gaolanet," said Roman.

'Fair point.'

Roman put a smile back on as he changed the subject. "So would you mind making an avatar for us to speak with? It's kinda awkward just talking to thin air, you know."

'I could, but would it not be difficult to explain to our Lorentian friends why a new person suddenly appeared?'

"Mm, not if your avatar was a dog," said Roman.

Pauline gave a telepathic sigh.

Hector decided to offer her some help. "Or you could just make it so that only the Atreyans can see your avatar, no?"

"Agh. Hector, buddy, you're killin' me here."

'No offense, but I don't see much point in making an avatar that can only be seen by those of you who already possess knowledge of Sparrows. That would be like me asking you to do a handstand purely for my own amusement.'

Hector just shrugged. He didn't much care, either way.

Roman sure did, though. "So a talking dog it is, then!"

'Sorry, but that's not happening, either.'

"Aw, c'mon, really?"

'It's not that simple. Creating new avatars is a long and arduous process.'

"Oh yeah? How come?"

'What do you mean how come? How long would it take YOU to create an illusory avatar for yourself? Oh, that's right, you can't.'

"Hey, hey, I didn't mean that as an insult. I was actually asking why it would take so long. What makes it so difficult?"

'Well, every perceivable detail must be accounted for in order for it to be truly lifelike. It requires considerable planning and building. And if my knowledge of the subject that I am trying to replicate is in some way lacking, then it will undoubtedly show in the finished product.'